


A capital and its own currency

by Moonshape



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Bold and awesome Seven, Eventually sexy times, F/F, Finally, Fluff Alert, Getting Together, Hiking, Holodecks/Holosuites, I was REALLY gonna make this a chaptered GEN audiences story but my brain is too much filth, Mountains, Not AU they're just having some downtime, Queers for once not actually in space, R&R, Winter, cuteness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:00:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28338096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonshape/pseuds/Moonshape
Summary: Premise (cuz I hate in-story exposition) 😅 -Our beloved VOY senior staff are on some kind of r&r meets team-building hiking trip on a holodeck mountain. The mountain and hut featured are HEAVILY based on your author's own experience i.e. this is a real mountain I've climbed and hut I've stayed it. Who knows why, but it has been relentlessly popping up in my head as the setting for this story whilst I've had no time to write.If you enjoy visuals of where I see this being set (rather than imagining your own), I made this just for you (all pics from various Hokkaido tourism websites, not my own and not for profit in any way 😉)https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1YMtc3MIkFw6q0or9ohhPtfT1qMto4Pqq?usp=sharingAlso, yes - this is one of the stories where italics = characters' inner monologues. I make no apologies 😋
Relationships: Kathryn Janeway/Seven of Nine
Comments: 17
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Work's title comes from this resoundingly wonderful quotation from the effervescent Carrie Fisher: “I don’t hate hardly ever, and when I love, I love for miles and miles. A love so big it should either be outlawed or it should have a capital and its own currency.”
> 
> I'm so glad I found the time to start this. It's been bouncing around in my head for a *good* while. And, let's be honest - we all need some sweet, fluffy, lovelovelove with roaring fires at the end of this clusterf*** of a year 😁😁😁 
> 
> In this chapter, the story Chakotay is telling is based on a real one I heard in the hut where this is set (the mountain is called Sapporo Dake) on the night I climbed it. It was an awkward melty time at the end of winter and so we had a hiking guide, who was Maori, and spoke very memorably about the way a people can have their own language forcibly taken away from them and the amazing power of those who stood up (in that specific case) to stop this from happening. It's always stuck with me. 
> 
> I have a couple of other non J/7 stories brewing (perish the thought - I KNOW) but for now, apparently, I'm v much staying in my lane 🤣
> 
> If you enjoy - you know I'm always *thrilled* to hear about it in any form you like 🥰

It might have been the roaring fire that did it; the sheer, unavoidable cosiness of the way it crackled and glowed so hypnotically, the unique way it filled the room with such honest, real warmth. Her cheeks felt as though they were glowing with a heat all of their own, a sharp contrast to the icy, unforgiving wind outside that had burned their faces nearly raw as they struggled up the last few metres towards the cabin. She could feel her skin protesting, still, at the sudden shock of this softer environment, although not as visibly - she hoped - as some of the others’. She found herself quite mesmerised by the unique, rosy tint spreading ever more vividly over the Captain’s cheekbones; found that she wanted to reach out and lay her knuckles, gently, over their heat.  _ We are both _ \- Seven struggled only for a moment to find the exact term -  _ flushed.  _

Perhaps though, it was the drink - the one Tom had called a ‘rum toddy’ with a concerningly conspiratorial wink. That could just as easily have been to blame.  _ I really should say to **thank** _ , she would think later. It was such a very human comfort to nurse it in her hands and, every so often, steal an intoxicating sip that pursued a hot path down her throat and into her stomach.  _ I could get used to this. _

Or maybe it was nothing more than the cheery murmur of low, relaxed conversation between friends; the absolute ease with which they sat, at different sides of the wooden table, talking, laughing, sometimes sharing an entirely comfortable silence. She took in the sight of Harry, conscientiously attempting to refill each and every drink correctly without interrupting the flow of any exchange. He was almost successful until Tom, B’Elanna and Neelix insisted on dragging him and the remains of the jug of mulled  _ something _ into a three-way crossfire of appalling puns in their respective languages. Tuvok she had never seen so engaged in the simple act of listening as he was now, focused on Chakotay’s story - one which she could understand cut deep, even from the few snatches she could glean. He was weaving a tale together, in a way only he could, about a language almost entirely lost and somehow, through the strength and dedication of a handful of individuals, regained.  Janeway was the only other person standing as she was and, Seven reflected later, that certainly also played its own small part in what happened next.

More likely overall, when it came down to it, it was simply a matter both of time, and of timing. That, and the deep-running frustration of unspoken feelings that had long since become a constant, buzzing distraction which refused to fade. Whatever it was that caused it in the end, this was the moment it happened.  _ There is a limit, even to my patience _ , a slightly rum-emboldened Seven thought as she stepped closer to the Captain and, like it was the most natural thing in the world, reached out and gently wrapped her arm around the smaller woman. Kathryn leaned wholeheartedly into the embrace as if it was something they had done a thousand times before. Her head came to rest on a now trembling shoulder, and the owner of the shoulder suddenly found, for the first time in her life, that she had to make a  conscious and concerted effort, to remember to breathe.  _ Mmmmmmmmm,  _ she thought. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To steal a phrase I cannot possible take credit for - "tale as old as time, burn as slow AF" 😁 Seven and Kathryn edge slooooowly and minutely closer together because DAMN guys I've missed writing moody, slow-burny, nothing-actually-happens-exactly chapters 😋

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I appreciate so much anyone who takes the time to read/leave kudos and especially those who are kind enough to write comments and give feedback. It's so inspiring and transformative to feel the love and know that people actually enjoy things I write 🤗🤗🤗

It was Kathryn who spoke first - softly, anxious not to break the spell which had fallen over them both. Seven’s warm arm still held her like an enchantment and for a few, precious moments, she felt they were the only two people in the world. Seven’s hand stirred and was suddenly trailing through her hair, perilously close to her neck. Whatever pre-mediated, suave and seductive quip she had been preparing in her head evaporated instantly.

“Hello,” she heard herself say instead, and she could almost hear Seven’s eyebrow quirk in amused response.

“Hello,” the younger woman whispered and Kathryn swore she has suddenly being hugged a little tighter. She wriggled, shamelessly giving in to her desire to be as close to Seven as possible, to feel the way their bodies fit together so easily. The sentiment was clearly reciprocated; she struggled to suppress a gasp as she felt the gentle, metal-tipped hand leave her hair and, a moment later, find its way to the bottom hem of her rollneck sweater where it stayed, toying with the material but going no further. Understanding the silent request on a visceral level, Kathryn nodded, her head never fully leaving its resting place.

When Seven’s shaking hand crept under the thick material and settled on the small of her back, it was impossibly warm. It felt more like home than anything she had ever experienced before. 

Hours might have passed by the time Seven spoke. It could have been just seconds. Kathryn didn't care - she had lost all track of space, of time, of matter. The world had shrunk until it consisted of nothing but the pure sensation of tender, soft fingers on her wanting skin. She knew, suddenly, that she would happily live out the rest of her days in this singular, perfect moment. “You are alright?” the younger woman breathed, a confirmation more than a question.

“Mmmmm,” Janeway answered with deep contentment, not trusting herself to make any other noise. She was grateful for the stillness of Seven’s hand; the intensity of the touch was almost too much as it was. 

Her stomach continued to somersault but her heart, at least, had begun to roar in her own ears slightly less by the time she was able to sigh, “Thank you.” Seven moved her head incrementally, resting it on her Captain’s in response. “Come outside with me for a minute,” the older woman managed.

“It is freezing.” But Kathryn was already shimmying them both towards the door, reluctant to lose any of the physical connection between them, and the younger woman knew better than to argue when Captain Janeway got an idea into her head.

The air was a brutal shock of cold, almost painful as the first breath entered their lungs. A blanket of snow lay deep all around the hut and continued to fall, layer upon powdery layer, in absolute silence. They stood facing one another for a moment, absorbed in the realisation that they were now completely alone. 

The shuddering mist of the older woman’s breath betrayed her unsteadiness. “Hold me again,” her voice trembled, “please.” The vulnerability, the lack of any attempt at pretence or bravado left Seven speechless. She placed her hands on Kathryn’s waist and, driven by a confidence she didn’t feel, pulled the smaller woman in towards her. They wrapped their arms around each other tentatively at first until Seven was shocked to feel a face bury itself against her neck with a sob and an inaudible murmur of words. Instinctively, she raised her hand to stroke Kathryn’s hair. Feeling more than hearing the sigh this elicited, she invited softly, "What did you say?"

“I said….” Kathryn looked up and the tears in her eyes shone in the moonlight. She shook her head, paused. “I said - is this really happening?” 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew set out and parts of this chapter are so sweet it may give you toothache.   
> Also - these guys + R&R is *such* a blessing to write. Who knew?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thrilled that people have been reading this (as always) and hope you enjoy a long-awaited (including by my own brain) chapter 😁

**Around ten hours earlier**

B’Elanna’s eloquent run of curse words was so loudly and clearly articulated it was almost enough to make even Tuvok blush. Nevertheless, he didn’t. “I just don’t understand why the damn bags can’t be waiting for us at the hut - shed, shack or….whatever the hell it is. What is the  _ point _ of having to carry them ourselves?” She groaned in irritation as she tried, ungracefully, to illustrate her point by picking up a weighty backpack complete with sleeping bag attached. “What does the Captain want with all this stuff anyway? And where even is she?”

Seven had never heard a Klingon whine before, nor had she dreamed that Voyager’s chief engineer could be such - how had Mr Paris put it a minute ago? - an _ absolute princess _ . She was already relishing the opportunity to tease the chief engineer mercilessly for the entirety of the two-day walk. It was only when her enhanced hearing picked up on the footsteps behind her that she stopped contemplating the  _ many _ ways she was going to bully her favourite sparring partner for her unwillingness to even carry a simple bag. She spun around, squinting against the sun that immediately assaulted her eyes. The silhouetted figure approaching had a familiar, determined stride. 

“Sorry for keeping you all waiting,” Janeway called out. Her face was still in shadow but Seven could hear the smile in her voice. “I took a while getting together the right replicator pattern for the shoes I wanted - it’s a bit of an in-between time to do this hike. I’d usually hope for either rather deeper, packed snow, or wait until after the infamous melt.” 

When their captain was close enough to be properly visible, the sight took Seven’s breath away. She shone every bit as brightly as the glowing winter sun low on the horizon behind her. It had become rarer and rarer to see Janeway entirely out of uniform, even in more casual settings. Seven was suddenly acutely aware that she hadn’t in any way adequately prepared herself for the unmistakable  _ shape _ of the woman she loved; the flawless lines of her were clearer than ever in fitted hiking pants and soft fleecy upper layers the younger woman wanted to reach out and touch. She realised, with horror, that she was staring and averted her eyes right as Kathryn’s hand landed on her arm with a brief, heartfelt squeeze of greeting.

“We could change the parameters of the programme, Captain,” Harry said, his cheeks already pink from a combination of cold and enthusiasm. “Make it a month earlier, or even a couple later?” 

“Not this time, Mr Kim,” she fixed B’Elanna in her gaze, eyes sparkling as she continued. “We agreed to do the hike exactly as Tom read about it in the 20th century journal entry he brought to me - down to the timing, as well as the precautions and equipment they needed to take with them.” B’Elanna looked down at her feet a little sheepishly. “Mr Tuvok, I believe has divided up the provisions we need fairly.” Her voice softened and she moved around the group, stopping next to her chief engineer and giving her a gentle nudge. “Some of you might find the packs less of a burden to carry if you know there are some treats in there for tonight - many of them of the drinkable variety.” B’Elanna caught her captain’s eye and grinned, her cheeks now as pink as Harry’s. “Time to get moving, people. Grab a bag. Mr Paris - you’re leading the way.”

\------------------------------

It was subtle but deliberate, the way Kathryn had hung back a little behind the others once they’d picked up their bags and set off in a raggedy group after Tom and Harry. Most of the senior staff implicitly understood it was her way of quietly relinquishing command, of switching off her professional persona and sinking, wholeheartedly into some well-deserved recreation time. Seven was the only one who read a little bit more between the carefully written lines. She saw how their captain found meaningless extra tasks to ensure the former Borg was the only one who lingered behind with her - suddenly there were straps that just  _ had _ to be adjusted on both their backpacks, laces that might come undone, a hat that wasn’t  _ quite _ going to keep the younger woman warm enough. 

Seven smiled as they did, finally, make their way towards the rest of the group, easily keeping the others in sight but straggling behind just enough to slip into that warm, comfortable world of two they both seemed to seek out whenever possible. 

“Hi,” Kathryn said uncharacteristically quietly once they’d been walking for a few minutes.

“I believe we already greeted each other when you arrived.” Seven’s face betrayed nothing but her tone was unusually unguarded. It was warm, in a deeply human way, and only a breath away from openly flirtatious. Kathryn was stunned into silence for longer than either of them would have thought possible, and the background of their ascent had already changed from patchy, damp green to relentless white before Seven spoke again. “I am pleased that you are enjoying this activity,” she reached out a cautious hand to anchor Kathryn as the smaller woman stepped over a half-frozen brook. 

“What makes you say that?” She took Seven’s help gratefully, gained a better footing, and held onto the young woman’s hand just a little longer than necessary.

“You look happy and - although I cannot explain it - somehow lighter than usual.”

“Despite the bag?”

“It was an idiomatic statement, Captain.” They both smiled, the companionable silence holding until Seven couldn’t resist mentioning the obvious any longer. 

“I am also extremely glad you chose to undertake this walk with me.”

“What? Of course we invited you - you’re a valued member of this crew and of my senior staff - as much as anyone else here.”

“You know what I mean and you are being deliberately obtuse.” Seven’s frustration bubbled to the surface, the emotion already familiar from every one of her previous attempts to raise this subject. This time though, Captain Janeway’s avoidant bluster had been replaced by Kathryn’s apparent paralysis. She opening her mouth as though to speak, before promptly closing it again. “Stop. Your lace is untied.” The remark was such a non-sequitur that she  _ did _ stop dead, again finding herself incapable of speech as the young woman crouched down to remedy the situation. The sight that met her eyes - Seven of Nine,  _ on her knees in front of her _ \- was like every one of her most lurid fantasies come suddenly, miraculously true. 

A breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding somehow found its way out of her as Seven stood and before she knew what she was doing, Kathryn said, “Of course I made sure we’d be spending today together. How can you not know?” Her voice was so low and breathy that the younger woman had to strain to hear what she was saying. Without understanding why, Seven fought the urge to reach out a hand in reassurance; she somehow understood that this was something Kathryn had to do - and say - herself. “Seven, any time - any  _ second  _ \- I spend away from you…..all I can do is think about when I  _ am _ going to see you and talk to you….when I’ll next be able to just  _ be  _ with you again.” For a few seconds the only sound was their shoes, crunching gently against the snow but when they were brave enough to meet one another’s eyes, the wordless intensity spoke volumes. 

“Oi, slowpokes!” The familiar, energised tones of Tom Paris filled the air and brought them screaming back to reality with all the grace of a shuttle crash-landing. “Keep up at the back - we have to stick together! We can’t afford for you and Seven to end up alone in the dark.”

_ Chance would be a fine fucking thing,  _ thought Kathryn. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Picks up right where the second (fluffy) chapter left off. Also, Seven is a bold AF and I love her like this.

** The evening again. **

Kathryn shook her head, paused. “I said - is this really happening?” 

“Yes,” Seven replied as though it was the easiest syllable in the universe to utter; as though the whole world hadn’t just started spinning wildly off-kilter on its axis. “I assure you - you are not dreaming.” She took the older woman’s hand in her own and knitted their fingers together. “I am here, and I’m not going anywhere.” Kathryn’s face flitted through a whole spectrum of emotions so broad, Seven could barely name them all. It settled somewhere between hope and abject terror. 

“I thought I was losing my mind a little,” Janeway said slowly, finally meeting the other woman’s eyes and laughing softly. “And then when you put your arm around me in there - I knew I was. I knew I had already.” 

“I am - what is the expression? - right there with you.” Seven’s hands gripped the material of the other woman’s top where it pulled taut just above the curve of her breasts. She pulled Kathryn to her with a hunger that was anything but gentle. “I think about you every second of every day - about how unbearable it is to even be in the same room with you; about how it would feel to hold you and touch you and love you the way I want to. About how it would be…..” Seven hesitated, swallowed, and decided -  _ to hell with it -  _ she was all in. “How it  _ will  _ be to make Captain Kathryn Janeway sob with pleasure again and again until she - until you - can’t take any more.”

The whimper which been starting in Kathryn’s throat morphed into a full-blown shuddering moan. She couldn’t believe she had the strength and control left to raise her lips towards Seven’s as desperately as she did. The kiss was raw and deep and messy; perfectly imperfect in every way. 

“We will freeze to death out here,” the younger woman said when she could bear to pull back from it.

“It would be worth it,” Kathryn managed, her breathing ragged. 

“But ultimately self-defeating. And we do have a long hike tomorrow. Surely it must be nearing bedtime.” Janeway had never heard a word drip with the level of sensuality Seven somehow instilled in those two final syllables and her heart skipped more than a few beats.

It wasn’t until the younger woman pulled her back into the warmth - into a different world than the one they had left - that Kathryn remembered with horror about the  shared  sleeping arrangements. She groaned aloud in frustration. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tasty bit 😋

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So....I know I've skipped around a bit here but I'm not one for always laying out the details of every little thing. Just (if you do need that) imagine a room with a whole load of your VOY faves laid out on the floor in their sleeping bags. And our girls have magically managed to (1) snuggle right next to each other and (2) control themselves until everyone has *finally* fallen asleep. That's where we pick up, in case it wasn't crystal clear.
> 
> And on that note - I dedicate this chapter to anyone who's every had really good sex *really quietly* in a room or space full of other people because......we can all feel for poor Kathryn and Seven 😅

**Later the same night**

"Seven," her strained voice found its way out through gritted teeth, "don't even  _ dream _ about it. Not unless you want to have to explain to Voyager's entire senior staff why exactly they were woken in the middle of the night by the sound of their captain screaming your name."

Kathryn couldn't see her face but Seven's breathing and the sudden iron grip on the top of her panties very much said:  _ that would be absolutely no issue at all. _

"It was  _ not _ a suggestion of how to proceed," Kathryn moaned as she felt a warm, insistent mouth retrace its previous path until it was perilously close to discovering quite how needy - how utterly  _ drenched  _ \- she was. "Please, please….. _ please Seven _ . I can't…." The choked quality in her voice caught the younger woman off guard. No more than a second passed before her hands cupped the older woman's face, their foreheads now touching again.

"I'm sorry Kathryn, I'm so sorry - I didn't mean to push you, I don't know what I was thinking." It came out in a rushed babble of whispered panic before the older woman could silence her with a kiss that said everything it needed to.

"You didn't, and it's ok," she soothed, her hands stroking Seven's back and rubbing away the tension she found there. "It's not just you. I feel like I'm on fire too," she breathed. "I _know_ , believe me - all this time, all the damn waiting and wanting and now we're here and….. _fuck_." Seven was hit by the raw honesty of words she'd never even let herself dream of hearing, and by the almost sobbing frustration in Kathryn's voice. She ran her hands down the other woman's sides slowly and breathed in the gasp this elicited.

"Perhaps my original plan will simply need adjustments," she said against the older woman's mouth. "But we will….adapt." She caught Kathryn's lips with her own and lingered there, teasing, before moving her face right next to her ear. "I want to touch you." 

"I want you - I  _ need  _ you - to touch me," Janeway said, her voice sounding as shaky as her body felt.

There was nothing else to say, not that she could have formed words as she felt Seven's hand trail down her stomach and pause. "Do you need me to keep you quiet?" the young woman whispered and Kathryn felt her whole body react with a pulse of white heat. She nodded.

There was a second when she couldn't say which hand caused her more pleasure - the one suddenly clamped hard over her mouth, or the one reaching under the elastic of her panties. But then that second was over, and there was no question at all. 

For as long as she could, Kathryn lapped and nipped and sucked at the younger woman’s palm, working out her frustration at having to keep silent and at Seven's infuriatingly slow but delicious, measured movements. It was soft and cautious and gentle until suddenly it wasn't at all and Kathryn's last coherent thought was that not even a Borg-enhanced hand over her mouth was going to be enough. Then her head swam, and her body and legs started to shake, her muscles clenching uncontrollably around Seven's fingers. She came so hard and long she knew the other woman had wrung every drop of pleasure she could from her body and every ounce of breath from her lungs. 


End file.
